August 19, 2013

DAY 4 OF THE BILLABONG PRO - LOTS OF BARRELS, LOTS OF WIPEOUTS AND A WHOLE LOT OF ACTION

The final day of the #BillabongPro was a long and beautiful day; the scores were high, the drama was energetic and the outcome was heartwarming as Ace Buchan defeated Kelly Slater to become the 2013 Billabong Pro Champion.

After calling a lay day on Day 3 of the waiting period, contest director Luke Egan felt an extra bit of excitement as the swell picked up in the evening while the world's best free-surfed their way through barrel after barrel. He knew there was a long day ahead, but he also knew there would be waves all day and the contest would see some of the best rides yet.

And Mother Ocean didn't disappoint. It's hard to pick standouts on a day when the boys put on a show like that, which is just fine by us. John John Florence bagged another Perfect 10 en route to receiving the AI Award. Kai Otton found a Perfect 10 as well in his intense Round 4 battle with Kelly Slater and Julian Wilson, ending his day in the Semis and earning his best result of the year. Meanwhile Ace Buchan kept getting better through the day, finding high 9's in every heat and making airdrops look all too easy as he got spit out of barrel after barrel, after barrel.

The Final saw Kelly Slater up against Ace Buchan. Kelly had yet to find his true form and the word was he had been saving it for the final. But Ace held strong and picked the best waves of the heat, collecting a 9.67 and 9.27 for an 18.94 total heat score, handily defeating the 11 time world champion.